Llangennith Previsiones de Olas e Boletín de Surf

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Llangennith is one of the most consistent beach breaks on the South Wales Coast and the Indicator Beach for the Gower Area so if there is no swell here it will be flat all along the Welsh coast.

It's a very popular spot, even in the depths of winter, but the huge 3 mile wide expanse of the beach means that it is always possible to escape the crowds by walking some distance away from the car park. In general the further South you walk, the smaller the waves and the easier the paddle out will be.

The paddle out at Llangennith is infamous. It is unusually difficult because the gently sloping beach profile means that on a big day outside is a very long way away and inside is a very big washing machine. Once the surf gets over about 4 feet, apart from dangerous rips against the cliffs at either end of the bay, there are few currents to help. Watch the sets for a while before going in you can usually see areas where the surf is less heavy and after you pick your spot, timing is everything.

The surf here can be very good, with long lefts and rights. It can handle a lot of size when conditions are right and on these days longboarders especially can score some very long rides by sitting way out the back and waiting for the sets. Often, however, 'gennith is a frustrating wave that tends to back off and then close out in a shorey. This is usually the case on very clean long period ground swells - the beach is just too flat to make anything of these because there are never any decent banks. Sometimes a light onshore SW breeze behind the swell seems to improve things by adding some short period swell into the mix and making the waves that bit more peaky. NW breezes, which are common in summer totally ruin small surf.

Three Peaks, which is a long walk up the beach, is the best spot around mid to high tide and as a result it is often crowded here. On rare days brief tubes are possible.

The quickly shifting tide means that for most of the beach it can go from poor to very good and back to poor in any one spot over an hour or less and full spring tides generally cause the surf to back-off.

Apart from the surf, there is a busy but mellow camp site at hand and a cafe on site too. The local pub, The Kings Head, is deservedly popular with surfers. PJ's surf shop is in the village too and there are dozens more breaks to explore within a short drive so if it is big and onshore here, somewhere else not far away may be firing.

2010-03-05